Born in Paris, Gisèle Celan-Lestrange studied drawing and painting at the Académie Julian in Paris from 1945 to 1949. On December 21, 1952, she married the poet Paul Celan, whom she had met in November 1951. She then studied etching at the Atelier Friedlaender, in Paris, from 1954 to 1957. Many of her works are linked to the poems of Paul Celan.